Critical Infrastructure Protection in Homeland Security: Defending a Networked Nation, 2nd Edition

11 Water and Water Treatment

PPD-21 defines the security goal of the water and wastewater treatment sector as “… a secure and resilient drinking water and wastewater infrastructure that provides clean and safe water as an integral part of daily life, ensuring the economic vitality of and public confidence in the Nation's drinking water and wastewater service through a layered defense of effective preparedness and security practices in the sector.” Note that the emphasis is on drinking water, which is approximately 15% of the country's water supply chain. Agricultural and industrial water is excluded from this sector. Also note that water, in the form of hydroelectric power, is also connected to other CIKR sectors such as power and transportation.

This chapter traces the evolution of water as a valuable resource protected by legislation and regulation, to a critical infrastructure that supplies drinking water to 300 million Americans and is indirectly linked to food production (food/agriculture infrastructure) as well as industrial production capacity. It then analyzes one of the nation's largest water systems—the Hetch Hetchy network that supplies water to the San Francisco Bay Area. This case study once again illustrates risk assessment and shows how to optimally allocate water supply improvement funds for the protection and response to this CIKR's hazards.

In addition, this chapter traces water supply legislation and shows how it has evolved from a public health issue ...